Bar buckle



Patented Mar. 25, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BAR BUCKLE Harry C. Robinson, Chattanooga,'Tenn.

Application March 19, 1945, Serial No.'583,519

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a fastening device and more particularly to an improved bar buckle for fastening together portions of harness or the like.

Buckles have been made in various ways and have contained features which have been found objectionable, both in the process of manufacture and in the use of the article. Buckles on the market are of malleable iron, the production of which is involved on account of it being necessary to produce them in a foundry by pouring the metal into a sand mold and subsequently annealing the same. Buckles produced in this manner are relatively rough and unfinished, and are :seldom if ever uniformly round. This lack of roundness interferes with the free pivoting of the tongue on its center bar and often makes it hard to lift up and change its .position, causing complications not only in the manufacture but in the use of the buckle. Another objection to malleable buckles is that they will break if subjected to sufiicient shock.

It is an object of the present inventionto provide an improved buckle with uniformly round smooth parts which can be readily and easily manufactured.

Another object of the invention is to provide a buckle of maximum strength capable of withstanding the greatest shocks without breaking and with a centerbar uniformly round instead of flattened and with means for maintaining the tongue of the buckle in proper position and freely swingable thereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a buckle which can be manufactured of wire on an automatic wire forming machine directly from a coil of wire by a simple process which can be easily varied in accordance with production requirements.

A further object of the invention is to provide a buckle in which the parts combine to give maximum strength and at the same time provide smooth friction-free surfaces which do not interfere with the wearing qualities of the material fastened and also one which will not pierce, snag or cause other injury to persons handling the same.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view illustrating one application of the invention;

Fig. 2, a longitudinal section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

t Fig. 3, an end view from theleft of'Fig. l; and

Fig. 4, an end view from the right of Fig. 1.. Inmanufacturing thebuckle of the presentinventicn a rectangular one-piece frame I!) having substantially straight end portions la and I0 and consistingof a continuous steel wire is formed from a single piece'of wire of substantially round stock with its two extremities l8 and I19 united by a weld l in the center of one of the substantially straight ends or end portions of the rectangular frame. Since this welded joint is at the center of the endof the frame the application of force to that end of the frame will be borne by'frame portions of equal length extending froma pair of convexly curved side portions or'sides 2t and 2| of the frame. Each of these end frame portions will offer substantially the same amount of resistance to the force exerted instead of having long and short portions extending from the sides of the frameand the extremity of the long portion offering less resistance to such force.

The weldedjoint H is located in a position to lie beneath the tapered tip l2 of a tongue 13 having its end portion opposite its tip bent to form an eye [4 by means of which the tongue is swingably mounted on a center bar l5 secured at its sides adjacent its ends by welds [6 to the sides 2!! and 2| of the frame.

The tongue 13 is mounted on the longitudinal center of the centerbar I5 and is maintained in such position spaced by means of portions or projections I! struck from the metal of the bar. In view of the fact that the centerbar I5 is round in cross section, there will be no binding action on the tongue as it is swung about the centerbar as a pivot.

As shown particularly in Fig. 2, the side members or portions 2!] and 2| of the frame are curved so that the centerbar will be out of the plane of the end portions Ina and lflb of the frame and likewise the centerbar has its side surface joined to the adjacent portions of the sides of the frame further spacing the centerbar out of the plane of the end portion to the frame, instead of having the ends of the centerbar fastened to the side members of the frame.

Thus a buckle is provided of three parts consisting of a frame, centerbar and tongue with the frame consisting of a continuous piece of wire formed from a single piece of material with the extremities joined by a weld in the center of one end of the frame with the center of the tongue constructed to overlie such weld when the buckle is in use, the tongue being mounted upon a cen- -making it easily susceptible to breakage.

terbar having its ends welded to the sides of the frame and with the tongue maintained in the proper position on the centerbar by means of portions struck from said bar.

This buckle is quickly and simply produced on an automatic wire worming machine directly from a coil of wire. In the process of manufacturing the buckle the frame is first produced. In accomplishing this a section of the wire is detached from a coil and is pressed into a rectangular shape and its ends welded together. The frame thus formed is welded to a second section of wire which constitutes the crossbar of the The frame and crossbar units are pro-' frame. gressively shaped to put the bow in the frame. to mash or strike the cleats or spaced projections on the centerbar for holding the tongue in place and then the crossbar is trimmed at its extremities on an angle. These steps are accomplished with automatic progressive dies. Although these steps in the process. involve welding, shaping, mashing and trimming, a. buckle constructed in this manner is far superior to a malleable frame of the same gauge and is less likely to have flaws Further, the increasing or reducing of production is .made much easier than it is to increase or re duce the output of foundry products manually or semi-manually molded. y

In use, due to the location of the weld I l at the center of the end of the frame of the buckle, the resistance of the end portion of the frame at each side of the weld to bending is substantially equal, and since the tongue l3 rests upon such weld, the tongue and end combine so that the load on the end of the buckle will be carried .jointly by the tongue and the united ends of the wire which constitutes the frame.

In the manufacture of a buckle it will of course be understood that the gauge of wire will depend upon the use to which the article is to be put.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope 4 thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawing and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claim.

What is claimed is: p

A buckle comprising a substantially rectangular one-piece frame formed of substantially round stock, said frame having a pair of substantially straight end portions and a pair of convexly curved side portions connecting said end portions and with a tongue-carrying center bar also of substantially round stock extending across said frame and permanently united to said con- 'vexly curved side portions and providing for a Number tongue and axis of rotation beyond the area circumscribed by said frame, a tongue mounted centrally on said center bar so that its tip will bear REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Kelsey Feb. 18, 1862 Glaser Feb. 12, 1929 Schleicher Apr. 16, 1907 Tenny Apr. 6, 1913 FOREIGN PATENTS V g Country Date Swiss Sept. 1, 1925 Number 

